


Sunshine After Rain

by HungryLibrary



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, dealing with the death of a loved one, do we ever learn anything about their childhood or Summer Rose, questions for the future, re-reading your own fics is painful, ruby failing spectacularly at coping, written before we knew anything about their childhood or Summer Rose, yang being yang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 11:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1603922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HungryLibrary/pseuds/HungryLibrary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the pain of losing a loved one can make it hard to risk your heart again.</p>
<p>But life isn’t much fun when you have nothing to care about. You need a little sunshine now and then, even if every day won’t be a sunny one. </p>
<p>This isn’t a lesson Ruby wanted to learn. </p>
<p>Luckily, Yang didn’t give her much choice in the matter</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunshine After Rain

Everything stops that day.

Catch. Click. Silence….

She forgets to say goodbye to the garden. She forgets the book full of press-dried rose petals, the pink and red stuck to knights and dragons as they fought between doggeared pages. It stays behind the bed where it fell, collecting dust as the house is locked and Ruby is driven away.

Her stuffed wolf toy, the only thing she got for her sixth birthday, the only thing she wanted on her birthday aside from plate of fresh-baked cookies-

It slipped out of her bag some time during the move.

She doesn’t mention the loss to her new family. To Dad who she’d never met and Big Sister who is too bright and full of life to look at.

They seem nice. Probably they would have offered to try searching for the toy if she’d told them. Maybe even bought her a new one, once the search was given up.

Ruby looks at Big Sister’s shoes in silence. She lets them lead her away from the station without a single glance back.

There wasn’t any point in telling them.

The wolf, the book, the house… they were all gone now. She’d already lost them.

She didn’t want to go through looking if it would only end with losing them all over again. It would feel too much like  _that moment_.

That moment when the door had opened but it wasn’t mom who stepped through.

When a supposed friend from work- another someone she’d never met- had knelt down almost to Ruby’s eyelevel and said  _‘Ruby, I have to tell you something about your mother…’_

-

Ruby still has the cape, though.

Her mom made it after Ruby spent a whole week draping herself in curtains, pretending to be the hero from the last story they’d read.

Now she uses the hood to block out sunlight when the world should be covered with rain.

She pulls the corners tight around herself when Big Sister reaches out a hand, and the bright red successfully wards off the older girl’s touch.

In bed at night- the first night and every night after- Ruby kicks off the strange smelling covers and curls up under the thin layer of scarlet.

It feels colder than she remembers. She doesn’t get much sleep.

_They_  notice.

They ask if she’s okay. Would she like a nightlight, some company, a certain snack to eat before bedtime?

She shakes her head and says nothing.

She tries not to make any noise at night. Big Sister is sleeping on the floor across from her- kicked out of her own bed because of Ruby- and Ruby doesn’t know how much noise will wake her.

Must be very little, because every night the girl will roll over a certain time past moonrise, and check on Ruby.

It’s hard, pretending to sleep.

Ruby starts using a corner of her cape to cover her eyes at night.

Mom says-  _used to say_ \- it’s always the eyes that tell a sleeper from a faker. What the difference is Ruby doesn’t know. She never asked, and now she can’t, so all that’s left is to hide her eyes completely.

The next day Big Sister comes home from school later than usual. She comes back with a bit of black cloth in her hands.

“It’s a sleeping mask, so you don’t have to keep using you’re cloak-thingy.”

There’s a moment of panic when Ruby wonders if she’s been found out-

“You have trouble sleeping because of the light, right? From the moon and the door crack and stuff.”

-She’s safe.

“This will help! Here, I’ll show you-”

The older girl slips the mask over her own eyes like a blindfold.

“-it’s a wolf, see? It’s black instead of red like the one on your shirt, the shop didn’t have any red ones, but still pretty neat huh?”

Ruby nods even though the girl can’t see. It is neat, with its red eyes the mask almost looks scary enough to chase all her bad dream away.

She doesn’t understand why Big Sister went through the trouble of getting it for her though. Hasn’t Ruby taken enough from her?

The cloth strip is pulled off and pressed into her hands. The older girl must have caught Ruby’s flinch, because she pulls back quickly and rubs apologetically at the base of her neck.

“T-try it out tonight. It’s, uh, not healthy to miss out on too much sleep.”

This time she can see Ruby’s tiny nod.

She smiles. It seems that was all the answer or thanks she was looking for.

That night the older girl watches eagerly as Ruby puts on the mask. She claps her hands and says it looks great, and Ruby holds tight onto the soft folds of her cape, a bit scared by the solidness of this new darkness.

“G’night, Ruby!”

She hears the almost familiar words and then the ‘click’ as the lights are switched off.

The dark doesn’t get any darker.

Ruby blinks and stares, but the black is exactly the same it was a moment ago. For all she can tell, the lights might still be on, the room could be full of noon-time sun.

She imagines that it is.

And she sleeps six hours in a row without a single bad dream.

-

“Having a bit of trouble? Want me to read it to you?”

Ruby transfers her glare from the book to the noisy Big Sister crouching before her.

She doesn’t need help reading. She’s been reading on her own for years now, something Mom taught Ruby to help pass the time while waiting for her to come home from work-

Reading isn’t the problem.

It’s the  _words_ that are the problem.

They blur and double unless Ruby squints, and then the squinting give her a headache, which makes it hard to focus on what she just read…

But she can manage. She doesn’t need help.

So she smooths out her frown and shakes her head. No.

The older girl’s smile falters.

“You sure? It’s a pretty big book, I bet half the kids in my class would have trouble-“

This time Ruby shakes her head so hard her hair snaps painful into her eyes.

They burn and immediately begin watering.

“Ah! Are you okay-?”

Humiliation and frustration are knotting themselves tight into Ruby’s chest and she curls over, roughly scrubbing at her eyes with the edge of her cape.

She doesn’t want to get tear-stains on the book. She’s having enough trouble with it already.

“… Well, if you want to read it together, just come find me. I can always finish my homework later.”

Ruby stays hunched over until the older girl’s footsteps fade away upstairs.

Then she straightens up and stares at the book in her lap for a moment, watching the lines twist and blur around each other.

The book shuts with a snap and a sigh. Ruby leans back to glare at the bookshelf sitting across the room.

It isn’t fair.

She can see even the smallest of their titles as easy as anything, why can’t she read her favorite story book?

Why couldn’t she pretend, even for a moment, that her mom was there reading it with her…

-

On the day before Ruby starts public school for the first time, both Dad and Big Sister run down her list of supplies over breakfast. They make sure of all the essentials then look up at her with identical excited smiles.

They ask if she feels ready. They ask if there’s anything else she wants or needs.

There is, but it isn’t something that can be bought at the corner store, so she says nothing and keeps chewing mechanically through breakfast.

It’s rude not to eat what people serve you. It’s even worse to complain about the food when you’re staying in their house and going to be living off them for next few years.

Ruby repeats this to herself as she forces down the portion on her plate.

She was raised better than to be rude. She was raised the best way possible by the best parent possible-

There’s a lurch in Ruby’s stomach that almost makes breakfast jump back onto her plate.

A quick excuse gets her to the bathroom in time. A moment of being sick undoes all her work at not being rude.

She’s weak and shivery, and a glance in the mirror as she washes up afterwards shows messy hair she doesn’t know how to brush properly on her own. It shows her eyes she never got around to admitting have trouble seeing words on a page, lips that tremble and go pale as she tries and fails to stop the tears from sliding past them-

A hand flicks off the bathroom light and her-  _pathetic_  -reflection disappears.

Big Sister stands in the doorway, suddenly the only source of light for Ruby to see by.

It stings. It smarts against her already aching eyes and she reaches up to pull her hood close again-

But the older girl grabs hold of her hands and won’t let go.

“Hey, can we start this over again?”

She’s smiling, Ruby can see it out of the corner of her eyes. Her hands are so warm Ruby wonders if she spent the last hour with them pressed against the heating system.

“My name is Yang. I like bicycles and pillow fights, and mixing  _lots_  of juice boxes into one glass, even though Dad thinks it’s gross… “

Her hands are also soft. Not calloused like mom’s, not as patient either- they tug Ruby forward and out of the darkness without waiting for an answer.

“I’ve never had a sister before so this is kinda scary for me. But cool! You like wolves and books and I’ve caught you staring at weapon’s magazines when no one’s looking. And you also like flowers right? None of my friends’ sisters are half as cool as you are!”

Ruby’s been called many things in her short life.

Cute, reckless, sugar-monster, sweetheart, darling daughter of mine…

‘Cool’ is a word for huntress. It’s a word for hunters and people in books, it doesn’t suit her at all.

But the older girl looks about as serious as someone can when they’re smiling that widely. And she’s already lost part of her room- part of her house and her father’s attention- because of Ruby. Disagreeing with her would just make things worse.

So Ruby says nothing and lets Yang pull her into the sunshine.

She doesn’t ask where they’re going. She doesn’t need to, Yang seems to like talking to her even if she never answers.

“We’ve got a swing out back, you know! I had Dad make if for me years ago, but it’s kinda frustrating trying to have fun by yourself. Not much fun at all, really, so now you’ve gotta help me break it in for real!”

There’s no garden at the new house. Just a lawn filled with weeds and wildflowers leading to a patch of trees. 

Ruby feels another pang, this time in her chest, but Yang won’t let them stop running until they reach the swing. By then Ruby has a stich in her side –she hasn’t moved this much in weeks- and is too breathless to feel like crying.

She wonders if she has the strength to push Yang, even on a swing.

The next second she’s being lifted up, plopped onto a polished wood seat, and Yang’s hands are on hers again, curing Ruby’s fingers firmly around the rough ropes.

“We’ll start off slow but you still have to hold on tight, okay? If you feel like you’re slipping then tell me- I promise I’ll catch you.”

Fear flashes through Ruby as the older girl gives her a tiny shove. It’s not her first time on a swing- her mom used to take her to the park a lot- but it is the first time someone else has pushed her on one.

She knows Yang would stop if she told her to. Her lips part and she almost does-

But then the girl laughs.

“You’re cape is perfect for swinging, Ruby! Look at it flapping!”

And Ruby turns back to look.

Yang’s smile is brighter than ever before. It’s even brighter than her hair, glowing gold in the morning sunlight.

Her eyes are on Ruby and they are smiling too.

Ruby can’t help herself. She smiles back.

It’s small and feels stiff on her face, a bit numb like when she first wakes up and can barely even open her eyes, but Yang gives a delighted shout at the sight of it and pushes Ruby even higher-

Whoosh. Snap. Swish!

“It even sounds likes wings doesn’t it? Hah! Ruby you’re  _flying!_ ”

Something about the swigging, or the way her cap fluttered, or how Yang could make words sound like a grin-

Or maybe it was how blue the sky looked beyond the scattering of green leaves-

Something shook Ruby down to the core, down, down, down until it dislodged a cold weight from her chest.

Ruby heard herself laugh along with her new sister.

With every swing up gravity let go of her, and at every swing back Yang was there, happy to push her into the sky again.

Every time without fail, her sister was always there.

-

“….Yang?”

“Yeah!”

Ruby almost giggles at the sheer force of Yang’s eagerness to answer. 

“Um… remember that book I was trying to read…?”

The older girl’s eyes light up.

“Do you want me to read it to you?”

“Sure…” Ruby can’t really say no to a grin that hopeful. “But it’s not just that book I’m having trouble with. I, uh… I think there’s something wrong with- with my eyes…”

Yang blinks.

Then she laughs and grabs Ruby in a hug, playfully ruffling the smaller girl’s short hair.

“Oooh, does my cute little sister need some cute little reading glasses~?”

“Yaaang…! You’re messing up my hair!”

“Pfft. It was already a mess from the wind, I’m just stylizing it a bit. But it’s good you told me about the eye thing- You’d have had it hard in school tomorrow if no one’d known!”

“That’s why I told  _you!_  Now let me go-“

“Never.”

The playful hug became suddenly tight, so strong and warm Ruby can’t decide if being burned to a crisp would come before or after having her spine snap in half.

She doesn’t care either way.

“I’ll always be right here, Ruby. Just like your mother had her important job, from now on it’s  _my_  job to always be here for you.… if you’d like me to be.”

Ruby’s never heard Yang, loud and bright and boisterous Yang, sound hesitant before.

Somehow though, she knows the perfect cure.

Her arms are small and pale compared to Yang’s but she hugs her sister as tight as she can anyway.

It feels a bit weird. She hasn’t hugged anyone since her mother….

This time it will be different.   

This time, Ruby decides, it will  _never_  end.

They spend the rest of the afternoon laughing while they explored the make-believe jungle of their backyard.  And if either of them has any say in things, they’re gonna spend the rest of their lives having just as much fun. Together. 

-

Ruby cries a little when, just a week later, Yang reveals the stuffed wolf she made for Ruby’s ninth birthday.

But they’re happy tears, and she doesn’t try to hide them. 


End file.
